Never Alone
by WonderPickle
Summary: Happy and Toby are stressing about choosing a name for their baby. Of course, Cabe and Paige step in to help. But they realize Happy and Toby are worried about more than just a name. One-shot. Quintis. Toby & Cabe and Happy & Paige friendship. For Southernbookgirl.


**thank you so much, Leah, for the request! I hope it's at least something like what you envisioned, and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Toby, it's _off_ the list."

"No, Happy, it's not. It's the best name we've seen yet."

"You're an idiot."

Happy and Toby's voices boomed into the garage before they were even in sight. Paige raised an eyebrow from her desk, nodding towards Walter. "Why does she seem crankier than usual?"

"I'm not sure I care to find out," Walter admitted.

Sly caught both of their attention with an exhale. He lowered his voice more than they did, keeping one eye towards the back of the garage. "Toby told me they were working on baby names."

Cabe raised his chin. "That makes sense. I saw the doc lugging a big book around the past couple days."

"Huh." Paige frowned. "I thought it was just another baby book. Didn't realize it was about names."

The Quinn-Curtis duo strode into the room, Happy several paces ahead of her husband. The rest of the team turned their heads. Her hair bounced fiercely off her shoulders. Toby wasn't rushing to catch up to her, wearing his own agitated expression. He stomped over to his desk.

Paige looked hesitantly between them. "Everything okay?"

"None of your business," Toby grumbled. He threw his bag down and slumped into his chair.

"Everything is everyone's business around here," Sly argued.

Toby frowned. " _Oh_ , says the eavesdropper."

Happy's stern tone made everyone look at her at least once while she talked. "Everything's fine. Just a husband and wife thing. We don't need anyone else involved."

"Yeah," Cabe chuckled to his coffee mug. "Good luck with that."

* * *

Less than an hour elapsed before Happy and Toby's "it's none of your business" situation was causing problems. She was snapping at everyone, much moodier than normal. And Toby couldn't go five words without unnecessary sarcasm. The team tried not to converse with them much, but they, Toby especially, couldn't help infringing on almost everything. Walter became frustrated, grumbling about how they should leave their domestic problems at home. He kept sneaking glances at them, though, brows knitted and worry clear. Sly, Cabe, and Paige grew concerned. When Happy abandoned her current project and headed for the kitchen, Paige and Cabe exchanged a glance. Paige followed her while Cabe walked towards Toby. Sly loudly claimed he was going into his office, dragging Walter with him.

After the space cleared, Cabe put one palm on Toby's desk. A single brown eye peeped upwards from underneath the fedora. "Can I help you?" Toby said.

Cabe steeled his gaze into Toby's. "What's goin' on between you and the missus?"

"Nothing that concerns any of you."

"Toby," chastised Cabe. "Every time you open your damn mouth, she screams veto across the garage. And every time she moves an inch, you holler another baby name. You guys are definitely weird...but not that weird. What's botherin' you so much?"

Legs crossed atop the left corner of his desk, Toby shifted in his chair. He looked back down at the book in his lap. "Seriously, Cabe." His voice hardened. "It's nothing."

Cabe raised an eyebrow. "If it _was_ nothing, you wouldn't be bickering like two kids on the playground. There's gotta be somethin' more."

Toby sighed, breathing heavy. He scratched the back of his neck. "Well," he peered up, "it seems like when you hang around the world's smartest doctor all the time, you pick up a few things."

Cabe chuckled. "Guess so."

"If you're so intent on listening...I guess I wouldn't mind a pair of ears for a few," Toby said. Closing his book, he moved his feet off his desk and put it where they'd been sitting. "Pull up a seat."

Cabe grabbed the chair from Paige's desk. He rolled it over, keeping some space between them. "So?"

"Oh. Good way to start of the session, Doctor Gallo." Toby pressed his lips together, heavy with sarcasm.

"What am I supposed to say? My patient's a bit of a jackass." Cabe crossed his hands together in the middle of his spread legs. He snickered at his own joke.

Toby just rolled his eyes. "Wow. Thanks, Cabe. This has been real helpful. How much do I owe you? Fifty cents?"

The comment earned scorn from Cabe. "Okay, okay. I'll knock it off if you do."

Toby shrugged. "I'm just bein' myself, doc."

"No, you're bein' _evasive_ , _doc_."

"Hey, I said I needed _ears_ , not a _shrink_ ," Toby snapped, only half playful.

"Alright." Cabe leaned back. Though, his back remained straightened. He nodded. "I'm listening. Load it on me."

Toby ran his tongue over his lips. His eyes fell on the floor. He swallowed and her dropped the tone. "I'm uh...I'm just havin' a tough time."

"With what?" Cabe asked. "Naming your kid? If you can't figure it out, just flip open a book, close your eyes, and put your finger on one. Problem solved."

Toby knitted his brows. "One, I would've thought you'd be a little more sentimental about it than that."

"My ex-wife's folks did that." He shrugged. "It's an easy solution."

"How _Walter_ of you to say."

"Oh, cram it," Cabe scolded, leaning forward. Pressing his arms into his thighs, he pushed his weight on them. "Get back on track."

"Fine," Toby said. "And two, that's…" his voice trailed off, "that's not exactly the problem."

"Then what _is_ the problem?"

Toby set his lips and scratched the back of his neck. "It's uh...it's complicated."

"C'mon, doc," coaxed Cabe. "You helped me when I almost ended up in the slammer. Lemme return the favor."

With a heavy sigh, Toby itched his chin. His eyes found Cabe's, peering upwards from underneath the brim of his hat. "You know how my parents were, right?"

"Sure." Cabe nodded. "You, Sly, and Walt all had similar experiences."

"Not exactly. See...they had parents that didn't _try_ , but I had parents that didn't _care_." Embarrassed, Toby bowed his head. He stammered, eye contact falling. "My childhood was almost as bad as Happy's."

The wrinkles in Cabe's forehead deepened. "Oh. I didn't know."

"Figured. The only person who really knows about my early days is my wife." Toby shook his chin. "The point is, I didn't exactly have a good role model. I don't know how to do this whole _dad_ thing."

"Don't say that. You'll figure it out along the way," Cabe argued. "It's a learning process."

Toby pulled at the strands of hair peeping out from under his hat. "Happy's wanted a family since the day her dad dropped her off at a St. Luke's and never turned back. But we can't even settle on a name."

"So what?"

" _So_ ," Toby looked up, "I'm not...I can't do this. I'm screwin' up already, Cabe. She's the love of my life. I can't mess this up for her. And I can't mess up for our baby. _That's_ what."

Cabe put a hand on Toby's knee. "You're two of the smartest people in the world. You guys can diffuse a bomb without breaking a sweat, stop a nuclear disaster, save a dying deer-"

"That's not anywhere near the same thing as raising a kid."

Frowning at the interruption, Cabe left his previous sentence in the dust. "You're looking at it like it's a problem. But you're the best damn problem solvers alive." He titled his head to the side. "There's nobody more ready to tackle this than you and Happy."

"What if we don't have it in us? What if the only name we can agree on is the worst name in the history of names? What if our kid hates the name we picked? What if our kid can't even decide how they feel about their name cause they're stupid? Oh, crap, what if our kid _is_ stupid?"

"Hey, hey." Cabe waved Toby's lack of breathing off. "Slow your roll, doc. There's a lot of things to worry about when you're expecting a kid."

Toby dramatically grabbed at his chest. "I think I feel a heart attack coming."

"Listen to me, damn it."

"My ears are working fine, Cabe. It's my heart I'm concerned about."

That elicited an eye roll. "There's a lot to worry about, but there's a lot to be excited about. And if you focus on all the worry, you won't have time to enjoy the pregnancy."

Toby hesitated. "That's...not bad advice coming from a guy who only gets emotional when he's chopping onions."

"Shut up," Cabe's voice gravelled.

Toby held a grin, but it didn't last long. "In all seriousness, though...our dream of having a family is finally coming true, and it couldn't be more terrifying."

"You're doin' everything you're supposed to. Eating right, keeping up with doctor's appointments, reading the books…" Cabe swallowed. "You're doing everything right. Just remember that. Make sure Happy does, too."

* * *

When Paige entered the kitchen, Happy was pulling a cereal box from the cabinet. She shot a brief look at Paige after her shoes stopped echoing and she came to a halt.

She stood on Happy's right, putting one palm on the countertop.

"Having some trouble coming up with baby names?" Paige asked.

"This is not something I really want to discuss with you."

"You need to talk it out," countered Paige. "It's clearing getting to you."

Happy frowned at her. "I'm married to the world's best shrink. If I needed to _talk it out_ , don't you think I'd go to him first?"

"No," Paige said. "I actually don't think you would. I know you, Happy. And sometimes, even now, when you get overwhelmed with emotional stuff, you keep it to yourself." She cocked her head, expression becoming more serious. "Just remember...it's okay not to know right away. This is a big decision."

Happy opened the cereal box, looking away. "Toby and I argue about this kinda stuff all the time. But usually it doesn't take long for him to give in."

"You mean for you guys to agree?" Paige said half-jokingly.

"Yeah." Happy poured the _Honey Nut Cheerios_ into the bowl. "That's what makes our marriage work."

Paige's eyes followed Happy's hands. Her playful smile started to fade. "It's hard to pick the name for your baby. They'll have it for the rest of their life. That's a lot of pressure."

"Which is exactly why I vetoed _Tobina_."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "He's not serious about that one, is he?"

"Oh, he is." Happy put the box on the counter. "Tobina Merriwether Quinn-Curtis. That's what he wants to call our kid."

"That's just bad parenting."

"You try telling him that."

Paige ran her tongue over her lips, shaking her head to the side. "You're only in the second trimester. You guys are still figuring things out, and that's _okay_."

"What's not okay is Toby obsessing so much over it." Happy stepped around Paige to get a carton of milk from the fridge. She glanced at the expiration date. To be sure, she unscrewed the cap and sniffed inside. She visibly blanched, forehead and nose wrinkling. "He's gone name nuts."

"He just wants it to be perfect."

She dumped the milk into the sink, turning on the water as it sunk down the drain. "I know. But it's...a lot."

Paige smiled empathetically. "Have you told him that?"

Happy scowled. Rotating on her heel, her boots squeaked against the floor. She opened the fridge so the door could serve as a barrier between them.

"That's an…" Paige titled her neck to the right, " _obvious_ no."

Happy pulled out a second carton of milk. She followed the same steps as she did before. When satisfied, she poured it into her cereal bowl. "I've told him that he's being a jackass."

Paige raised her brows. "Happy, you _know_ that's not the best thing to say."

Happy unsuccessfully attempted to stifle a groan. Screwing the lid back onto the carton, she put it in the fridge. "Yeah. It's just...he's got this idea in his head of how everything's gonna be. The nursery, the pregnancy, the delivery...you name it."

"And that's a bad thing?"

Happy paused. Her eyes briefly flickered to Paige. "We've been trying for so long...I just don't wanna screw it up." Her voice faded towards the end of her comment. She stared at her cereal bowl tensely, but glimpsed at Paige again with one eye when she felt an uncomfortably warm smile.

" _Happy_ , you are not going to mess anything up."

Both eyes shifted. "Well, it's not like I had an example." They went downwards again.

Paige bit her lip. She leaned forward on her hands, pressed against the countertop. She briefly examined Happy's obvious physical tension. "Do you love that baby?"

Baffled by the question, Happy glanced up. "Wouldn't be going through all this if the answer was no."

Had Paige been talking to anyone else in the garage, she would've given a reassuring shoulder squeeze. But she was careful to keep her hands off; they could both tell.

"Then you're going to be a good parent. Loving your child is the best thing you can do. And it's also the easiest." Happy shifted her weight. "So...if you're taking your stress out on Toby, just talk to him instead. You _know_ he wants to be there for you. You have to let him."

"I guess...he has kinda been my verbal punching bag these past few days. I don't think I even realized how hard I was being." Happy scrunched her forehead. "I would never _purposely_ -"

"I know," Paige reassured. "He knows that, too. Just go talk to him."

Clenching her jaw, Happy straightened. She gave a nod and turned towards the doorway. But after a couple of steps, she faced Paige again. Paige quirked an eyebrow curiously. Happy looked at the floor and cleared her throat. "Thanks, Dineen. If I'm anything like you as a parent...I'm not worried about screwing up so bad."

Paige grinned and dipped her head. Pressing her lips together, Happy tried for a toothless smile. Before Paige could get a good look at it, though, she strode back into the office space, forgetting about her task that was so important only seconds ago.

* * *

Happy and Toby's eyes found each other the second she stepped into his view. He closed his book and put it off to the side without looking away from her. She crossed the distance towards his desk.

"Hey." Her voice was a lot softer than it was in any of their recent conversations.

"Hey," he repeated.

She rocked on her heels. "Can we talk?"

"Course."

After pressing her lips together, she nodded. He followed her into the back of the garage.

When they were out of everyone's earshot, Happy wet her lips. She didn't wait to start talking. "I'm sorry."

He blinked. "Wait. What? Did I just hear that right?"

She raised an eyebrow, daring him to say something sarcastic again. "Yeah. I don't wanna do this. I don't wanna keep fighting."

Toby lost the tone instantly. He put a hand on each of her upper arms. "Listen, Hap. I only kept pushing the argument cause I've been so stressed."

"Same here. I don't care about it as much as I acted like," she admitted. "I mean, it's a big deal, but it's not worth the cold shoulders. I think the whole thing was just a way for me to get rid of my jitters. Wasn't really fair."

"And I think the whole thing was a way for me to unhealthily exercise mine. We just...we gotta be honest with each other about our fears. That means we're taking the first step in the right direction."

"Okay. "She fell into his chest. "Honestly, I'm freaked."

"Honestly," he wrapped his arms around her, "me too. But there's no one else I'd rather have by my side."

"Ditto."


End file.
